Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Are entrepreneurs made or born ?

Typical entrepreneurs are restless, independent, have a tendency to be a loner, and extreme self confident. Like most human behaviors, entrepreneurial behavior can be traced to a complex interaction of innate, background, and environmental factors. But which factor is critical ? According to a recent survey, nearly 2/3 of entrepreneurs claim they were "inspired to start their own companies by their innate desire and determination, rather than by their education or work experience". So if this study can be further confirmed, we can say entrepreneurs are born, not made.

I must say we need to acknowledge and celebrate the inequality that has enabled many entrepreneurs making fortune, and at the same time enriched the lives of the rest of us.

9 Comments:

I think entrepreneurs are borne.. Its the right time that they wait for them to realise that they are borne to start something on their own. I completely agree Typical entrepreneurs are restlessness, independence, a tendency to be a loner, and extreme self confident.

I think it's a combination of both the determination we might be born with and the motivation you get from others or even the circunstances of the moment. You just have to believe in yourself and have a bit of luck and exploit it!

I cannot but urge you to read some sociology by P. Bourdieu where he develops the concept of habitus and shows that what seem the most inate feelings are in fact born out of our cultural background. Then you would realize that one cannot comment upon the figure you gave in a decisive way.

We are made. Period. From an early age, I was involved in some kind of money making scheme.

I can trace mainly environmental factors for this:

-last of 8 kids: Mom and Dad had already used up most of their energy trying to make the older kids conform to their ideas of how they should act. By the time they got to me, they were only concerned that I stayed out of serious trouble and got decent grades. This gave me an inordinate amount of freedom to experiment and risk. Instead of hearing 'no', I heard 'go for it - just stay out of trouble'.

- By the time I was gaining awareness of money, I was well aware that the family had little extra to spare and I saw my father try (and fail) to make extra money through Amway and Real Estate. Having an entreprenuerial example as a parent, however, definitely set the tone for the future. So often when I take a particular action or decision, I see my father in the same environment and take pleasure from doing a better job.

In addition, with little extra to spare, I was encouraged to go get a paper route and I was supported anytime I saw an ad to sell seeds or christmas cards or Krispy Kreme Donuts (all door to door).

Finding that those paths all involved much hard work, a lot of 'no' and relatively little payoff, I hungered for a way to make better money with less work and kept poking at different businesses and ideas. Today, I run a business that is certainly not a million dollar enterprise, but I know enough to know I have found the right formula.

If any part of my success is born, it is the basic package of decent looks, build and voice that goes with the business skills I have learned. They do not make me successful, in my opinion, but they do not make it harder either.

Everything else, I have learned or was given, such as confidence in myself and a willingess to risk - those gifts I received from my parents.